Synapse

AGPL-3.0 reference Matrix homeserver from Element, in Python and Rust

Comms / Realtime · AGPL-3.0 · 4.7k

Reviewed 2026-10-21 · last push 2026-10-20 · repo checked 2026-10-21

What's Good

AGPL-3.0 (element-hq/synapse), release v1.163.0 (2026-10-14), commit on 2026-10-20. The most complete Matrix server, so new spec features land here first. Useful when you want self-hosted, federated chat or a bridge hub to other networks. ★~4.7k on the new repo; the archived matrix-org/synapse repo holds the older ~12k.

The Catch

Element moved development to element-hq and changed the license from Apache-2.0 to AGPL-3.0 in late 2023, with a commercial license on offer. It is resource-hungry once you join large federated rooms, and you should run it on Postgres, not SQLite. Tuwunel is a lighter Rust homeserver if you don't need every feature.

Verdict

The full-featured Matrix server; plan for its memory and database needs.

See also: Tuwunel

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Markdown

[![Reviewed on Stack Gems](https://stackgems.com/badge/synapse.svg)](https://stackgems.com/gems/synapse)

HTML

<a href="https://stackgems.com/gems/synapse"><img src="https://stackgems.com/badge/synapse.svg" alt="Synapse reviewed on Stack Gems" height="20"></a>

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